Keys

This is a true story. It has nothing to do with business or marketing but it might be entertaining or inspiring to you all the same : )

My wife and I spent this weekend in the cool mountain air of lovely Highlands, NC.

As our first hike of the weekend, we chose a trail at the end of a remote gravel road in the Nantahala Forest. The trail was steep, following a rocky river down incredible cliffs and waterfalls. We explored rugged nooks and crannies off the beaten path, following my childhood spirit as a West Virginia mountain wanderer. In two hours of hiking we did not see a single person either coming up or going down the trail.

When we returned to my car, I discovered that a hole had worn through my pocket and I had lost my car keys somewhere on the trail. Our phones were locked in the car (there was no service any way!) and we were at least five hilly miles away from the nearest town.

By the way … I am a down-to-earth guy, but I do drive a nice car, a BMW. Leaving this car unattended was also a risky proposition, especially if somebody found the keys. The nearest replacement key was back home, three hours away.

We had no choice but to re-trace our steps down the long rocky path, hoping to find a needle in a haystack. As we set out, already tired and out of water, my wife said we needed to say a prayer to God who has provided so many blessings in our life. It wasn’t a prayer to be rescued, just a prayer that we trusted that He would provide, whatever our fate may be.

Less than five minutes later, an elderly couple came huffing up the rocky path, the only people we had seen on the trail all day. The woman stopped, looked me in the eye and said, “Did you lose something?”

Yes, they had found the keys, 30 minutes farther down the trail. Improbably, our crisis was over.

Never discuss spirituality or politics on your blog, right? Well, whether you believe in God or not, I thought you might enjoy this story and draw your own conclusion based on you own life journey.

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-Mark Schaefer